NFL Today, Week 7

SCOREBOARD

Monday, Oct. 24

Houston at Denver, 8:30 p.m. EDT. Brock Osweiler returns to Denver for the first time since leaving the Super Bowl champs for a four-year, $72 million offer from Houston in the offseason. Osweiler went 5-2 as the starter last season in replacing Peyton Manning. And Osweiler’s coming off his best game as a Texan, leading Houston back from a 14-point deficit for a 26-23 overtime victory over the Colts last week.

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STARS

Passing

-Andrew Luck, Colts, finished 27 for 39 for 353 yards and three touchdown passes in Indianapolis’ 34-26 win over Tennessee.

-Drew Brees, Saints, was 37 for 48 for 367 yards and three touchdown passes and an interception in New Orleans’ 27-21 loss to Kansas City. Brees is the first player in NFL history with 100 300-yard passing games.

-Andy Dalton, Bengals, finished 19 for 28 for 308 yards and two touchdown passes in Cincinnati’s 31-17 win over Cleveland.

-Jameis Winston, Buccaneers, finished 21 for 30 for 269 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception in Tampa Bay’s 34-17 win over San Francisco.

-Philip Rivers, Chargers, was 27 for 44 for 371 yards with a touchdown and an interception in San Diego’s 33-30 overtime win over Atlanta.

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Rushing

-Jay Ajayi, Dolphins, finished with 29 carries for 214 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s 28-25 win over Buffalo. Ajayi totaled 204 yards a week earlier in a win over Pittsburgh and tied the NFL record for consecutive 200-yard games held by O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams.

- Jeremy Hill, Bengals, had nine carries for a career-high 168 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown, in Cincinnati’s 31-17 win over Cleveland. It was also the best by a Bengals running back in seven years.

-Jacquizz Rodgers, Buccaneers, had 26 carries for 154 yards in Tampa Bay’s 34-17 win over San Francisco.

-LeGarrette Blount, Patriots, had 24 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns in New England’s 27-16 win over Pittsburgh.

-DeMarco Murray, Titans, had 25 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee’s 34-26 loss to Indianapolis.

-Kevin Hogan, Browns, replaced the injured Cody Kessler at quarterback and had seven carries for 104 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown in Cleveland’s 31-17 loss to Cincinnati. It was the longest TD run by a quarterback in Browns history.

-Matt Forte, Jets, had 30 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown in New York’s 24-16 win over Baltimore. He also joined Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas and Herschel Walker as the only players with 8,000 yards rushing, 4,000 yards receiving and 20 TD receptions.

-Melvin Gordon, Chargers, had 22 carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns, and added six receptions for 53 yards and another touchdown in San Diego’s 33-30 win over Atlanta.

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Receiving

- A.J. Green, Bengals, had eight catches for 169 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown on a desperation pass on the last play of the first half, in Cincinnati’s 31-17 win over Cleveland. Green has nine games with at least 150 receiving yards and a touchdown catch, the fourth-most among players in their first six seasons. Only Hall of Famers Lance Alworth (13) and Jerry Rice (11), and Randy Moss (10) had more such games in their first six NFL seasons.

-Julio Jones, Falcons, had nine catches for 174 yards in Atlanta’s 33-30 loss to San Diego.

-T.Y. Hilton, Colts, had seven catches for 133 yards and a touchdown in Indianapolis’ 34-26 win over Tennessee.

-Tyrell Williams, Chargers, had seven receptions for 140 yards in San Diego’s 33-30 win over Atlanta.

-Michael Thomas, Saints, had 10 catches for 130 yards in New Orleans’ 27-21 loss to Kansas City.

-Mike Wallace, Ravens, had 10 catches for 120 yards in Baltimore’s 24-16 loss to the New York Jets.

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Special Teams

-Josh Huff, Eagles, returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in Philadelphia’s 21-10 win over Minnesota. It was the first time the Eagles have returned kickoffs for touchdowns in consecutive games.

-Sebastian Janikowski, Raiders, was 4 for 4 on field goals in Oakland’s 33-16 win over Jacksonville.

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Defense

-Landon Collins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Giants. Collins and Rodgers-Cromartie each had two interceptions in New York’s 17-10 win over Los Angeles in London. Collins returned one 44 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. They are the first pair of teammates with multiple interceptions each in a game since 2013 (Seattle’s Byron Maxwell and Richard Sherman) and the first Giants duo to accomplish the feat since Kenny Hill and Terry Kinard on Sept. 14, 1986, against San Diego.

-Chris Moore and Matt Judon, Ravens. Moore recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and Judon had two sacks in Baltimore’s 24-16 loss to the New York Jets.

-Daniel Sorensen, Chiefs, returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown in Kansas City’s 27-21 win over New Orleans.

-Robert Mathis, Colts, returned a fumble 14 yards for a touchdown in Indianapolis’ 34-26 victory over Tennessee.

-Adrian Clayborn, Falcons, returned a fumble 5 yards for a touchdown in Atlanta’s 33-30 loss to San Diego.

-Emmanuel Ogbah, Browns, had two sacks in Cleveland’s 31-17 loss to Cincinnati.

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STREAKS & STATS

After failing to score more than 23 points in any of the first six games, the Bengals got their act together against one of the league’s worst defenses, piling up 559 yards - their most since 1990 in a 31-17 win over the Browns. The Bengals have won the past four in the series by scores of 30-0, 31-10, 37-3 and 31-17. … After giving up 171 yards rushing, including 111 to David Johnson, last Monday night at Arizona, the Jets held Baltimore to a franchise-low 6 yards on the ground. … The Dolphins outgained Buffalo 454 yards to 267 and had a 14-minute edge in time of possession, but were hurt by 13 penalties for 116 yards. Miami overcame an 11-point deficit with 16 minutes left to end a four-game winning streak by the Bills and beat them for only the second time in their past seven meetings. … The Raiders pounded the Jaguars 33-16 and improved to 4-0 on the road and moved to 5-2 for the first time since 2001. … The Chiefs won their ninth consecutive home game with a 27-21 victory over the Saints. … The Colts rallied to beat the Titans 34-26 for their 10th straight win against their AFC South rival. … The 49ers’ 34-17 loss to Tampa Bay was their sixth straight loss and their longest losing streak since 2008. … The Seahawks and Cardinals played to a 6-6 tie after Arizona’s Chandler Catanzaro and Seattle’s Stephen Hauschka both missed short field goals in overtime. The tie was the Cardinals’ first since Dec. 7, 1986, a 10-10 draw at Philadelphia when the franchise was based in St. Louis. It was the first for the Seattle since entering the NFL in 1976. The last tie in the NFL came in 2014, when Carolina and Cincinnati tied 37-37.

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MILESTONES

The Colts’ Adam Vinatieri kicked a pair of field goals, and the second, a 33-yarder with 3:46 left in the third quarter, gave him an NFL-record 43 consecutive field goals made. His first tied him with former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt, who made 42 straight between 2002 and 2004. … The Chiefs’ Andy Reid coached his 300th game Sunday. Most of those were over his 14 seasons in Philadelphia, where he was 140-102-1. He is 36-21 in his fourth season in Kansas City. Playing in his 100th game, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has 27,890 passing yards, the most by any player in his first 100 games to begin a career.

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BYRD HONORED

The Jets honored the late Dennis Byrd with a pregame video tribute after he was killed last weekend in a car accident in Oklahoma.

Byrd was an inspiration to many after he overcame brief paralysis and walked again just a few months after injuring his neck during a play in 1992. The defensive lineman, who played for the Jets for four seasons, died in a two-vehicle collision last Saturday. He was 50.

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SIDELINED

Geno Smith’s return to the starting lineup came to a premature end on Sunday, with the New York Jets quarterback exiting a 24-16 win over Baltimore with a right knee injury in the second quarter. Smith was hurt while taking a sack from Baltimore’s Matthew Judon. He was taken to the locker room and later returned to the field in street clothes, and he’ll have an MRI this week. … Cleveland’s quarterback woes continued with Cody Kessler suffering a concussion. Kessler was hit hard while throwing a shovel pass on a scramble, and he was replaced by rookie Kevin Hogan. … In Buffalo, LeSean McCoy’s nagging left hamstring issue flared up, with the NFL’s second-leading rusher being forced to leave the Bills’ game at Miami in the third quarter. Bills safety Aaron Williams suffered a head and neck injury when Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a block in the second quarter. … Washington cornerback Josh Norman was forced to leave the Redskins’ game against Detroit, suffering a concussion and appearing to injure his left shoulder while defending a catch by the Lions’ Marvin Jones. … In Philadelphia, Eagles cornerback Ron Brooks was carted off the field after suffering a right knee injury late while making a tackle in the first quarter.

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SPEAKING

“With (Matthew) Stafford, it’s never in the bag if it’s close. I call him (Brett) Farve Jr. because those are the kind of attributes and intangibles he has.” - Redskins safety Will Blackmon on quarterback Matthew Stafford after the Lions quarterback threw a last-minute TD pass in Detroit’s 20-17 win over Washington.

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“We got outplayed, we got outcoached, we got out-everythinged. They were the more physical team today, there’s no doubt about that. They controlled the game.” Buffalo coach Rex Ryan - on his team’s performance in a 28-25 loss to Miami.

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